Vishu Sadya ( Scrumptious vegetarian spread of Kerala)

I asked my children to look into the mirror and say what they saw there. My 7 yr old younger one Aaru, very carefully looked into the mirror and said, “Mom, I can see my nose”. Elder one did not answer as he was trying to figure out the complicated answer which his mom is expecting to hear. He knew very well that ‘face” is not the expected answer as it’s the simplest answer any one could guess. Mom needs some more and what’s that???? Aaru’s innocent answer amused me but I had to give them the correct answer myself. The situation where I asked them this question was at Vishukkani, the first sight arranged by the” lady of the house” for the rest of the family members. Mirror is one of the most essential part of Vishukkani as it symbolizes one’s role in making his own future. It tells us that ‘You are the one who make or break your own future”. The message is truly and highly valuable and that’s what I was trying to convey to my kids through the question “What do you see in the mirror?”

At Vishukkani, every basic and luxurious need of yours is displayed like food items,gold,silver money and good clothes. I wonder why we are not adding I-phones also to this list. 😉 Vishukkani has to be seen between 4 and 6 AM and is generally arranged by grand mother or mother.While seeing the vishukkani ,you pray for a prosperous new year ahead. Elders gift you with money or goodies and you touch their feet and seek for blessings.My husband just loves this tradition as that’s the only day I touch his feet as he is the eldest of our nuclear family. 😛 🙂 Next comes the scrumptious meal ,Vishu Sadya which I prepared for my family. Sadya is served on banana leaf and no cutleries are used to eat the meal. You are supposed to enjoy the meal with your beautiful hands. 🙂

Planning to surprise your family with Kerala vegeterian dishes or even Sadya? Then my other posts on Sambar , Avial , Koottu curry, Pachadi, Parippu curry,Puli inji and Payasam will do the magic for you!

I know that you are drooling while looking into the Sadya pic. Not your fault mate. It’s very natural and continue drooling. I am not gonna tell anyone. 😉 Sadya is an elaborate vegetarian spread with many dishes and desserts called payasam. Coconut ,coconut milk,and curry leaves play a big role in the cooking procedure.I belong to North Kerala,Malabar and we don’t mind having fish and chicken along with Sadya. Every dish has got a specific place in the banana leaf and it also has a scientific explanation. The banana leaf symbolizes a human body and every dish’s nutrients for each part of the body decides where on the leaf it has to be served.

The Sadya includes sarkkara uppery,uppery,mango pickle, pappadam, koottu curry,thoran, avial,sambar ,olan,pachadi,kitchadi,kaalan,puli inji,erissery,rasam, butter milk, banana and payasams. Payasams are of many kind but here I’ve served parippu pradhaman and pal ada payasam.I’ve tried to cover as many dishes as possible by me but there are many more which I wish to cover in the coming years.Kaara appam/Unniyappam and achappam/rose cookies are the sweet snacks prepared on Vishu. They are served in the brass uruli along with the Sadya for you to see. Please have a look dear!The Sadya dish’s recipes are included in my blog under kerala vegetarian dishes and on searching you can find them. And that’s me in my traditional kerala saree which is a 2-piece saree called Mundu and Veshti. 😉 🙂

Planning to surprise your family with Kerala vegeterian dishes or even Sadya? Then my other posts on Sambar , Avial , Koottu curry, Pachadi, Parippu curry,Puli inji and Payasam will do the magic for you!